Page 53 of Winds of Ruin
I scoffed. As if Haag Bringham would show his face at a celebration here forme.“Of course not. Why?”
He shrugged. “I saw the Sheffields and Nadiars and thought maybe your mother had invited them all. You get on well with Regon, no?”
The prince of the West Corridor made far better company than his father. “I do, but I bet my motherforgothis invitation.”
The quartet quieted for just a moment between songs, and Aunt El approached us.
She nodded to Hurley. “Staying out of trouble?”
“Always, Aunty,” Hurley said with a twist to his smile, and the corner of his eyes crinkled.
My aunt’s eyes narrowed at my cousin. “Clean the rouge off your collar. It’s not the same shade as the lips of the lady you brought with you tonight.”
Hurley’s warm brown eyes widened as he looked down at his shirt collar. She’d tricked him. No stain marked his tunic. Guilt pinked my cousin’s cheeks.
I lifted my hand to my mouth. Even at twenty-nine, he was still atouchafraid of our elders’ reprimands.
“Speaking of Lady...” Hurley paused and scratched his chin.
I laughed through my fingers. “You’ve forgottenher name?Hurley!”
My cousin winced and ran his hand through the dusty brown mop of hair atop his head. “Point taken...I’d best go find her.”
“Good luck,” I called after him before turning back to Aunt El.
She leveled me with a knowing look. “You’ve got roughly thirty minutes before the lords tire and the band stops playing.”
“Am I that obvious?” I sighed. “And if I were to slip out prior?”
She shook her head. “Then I’d tell you not to do anything I wouldn’t do. Though, that’s poor advice.”
“I want to show Dritan the throwing daggers,” I said.Half-truth.
“Now you’ve made me an accomplice,” she answered. “But go.”
I grinned and set down my glass. “Thank you, thank you,” I said and pecked her on the cheek.
Before I could hurry away, she stopped me. “But, Lark—clothes stay on.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’refriends…” I lied.
“Yes, yes. And I have plenty of friends who I’d like to get in a state of undress.”
The carcanet heated my neck, spurring my power. Easily peeking into my aunt’s mind, I saw a vision of King Mattock, thankfully fully clothed.
I made a gagging motion before heading to the garden doors.
Moonlight greeted me when I ducked through a rusted-out grate. This passage once had allowed mules to bring wood chips to the water heaters—we no longer needed them since charms worked more efficiently.
I discarded my pointed dress shoes in the grass next to my secret exit.
I still respected Aunt El’s rulesat Lamoreaux.I hadn’t slipped out of the estate since I was thirteen. The utter betrayal written across her face had convinced me never to skirt her again. My aunt may not have realized her own emotions—I had. That night, I’d felt someone’s heart break for the first time.
But this castle wasmyhome. Every secret entry and exit, every loose grate, every guard prone to sleeping at their post—I knew it all like the back of my hand.
With Isolde’s sword holstered at my hip and her carcanet around my neck, I padded through the grass with bare feet down to the pond.
Crickets sang their repetitive tune as the boathouse lamp shone into view through a long arch of lilac bushes. No one ever came down here. It was the farthest point from the palace within the walls, and none of the rowboats were functional enough to bear weight. The water had become overgrown with too many lily pads to paddle through.
